Devil May Cry 4



Devil May Cry 4 is the second sequel (Devil May Cry 3 being a prequel) to the Capcom action game Devil May Cry. It was announced in March 2007 that the game would be released simultaneously for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and later PC. It is being developed by Capcom Production Studio 4, the producers of Resident Evil 4 and the original Devil May Cry.

In the game, the player controls both Nero, a new character, and Dante while they fight demons using firearms and melee weapons in a survival horror setting. Other characters include new appearances Kyrie, Sanctus, Credo, Gloria, and Agnus, and returning characters Lady and Trish.

Gameplay
Gameplay follows close to its predecessors, specifically, the third game as a hack and slash adventure. Players navigate their way through massive levels while slaying devils in mostly a third person perspective. Demon slaying is emphasized on how they are dealt with, in the form of a Stylish Gauge. Players can rack up Stylish points by defeating enemies with melee and projectile weapons and defeating them. Using variety in your attacks further increase the gauge while using the same move over and over again stops until something else different is used. Dodge rolling can also be done to increase the gauge as well as Taunting. Stylish comes in different ranks from D/Deadly being the lowest and S/Stylish being the highest. Experienced players can take up the S rank to new levels and achieve an SSS/Sick Smokin' Stylish rank.

Like the second and third games, the game's duration is divided by two separate characters with their own storylines. The player starts off with the new character and main protagonist, Nero, wielding a motorcycle-style sword called Red Queen and a double-barreled revolver called Blue Rose. His unique ability is the Devil Bringer, which allows him to grapple and inflict extra damage on enemies, including bosses. Nearly 1/3 of the game, Nero gains his Devil Trigger and the Yamato. Unlike Devil Triggers of most games, Nero's DT goes beyond simple health regeneration and strength increase; his attacks are augmented by a spectral demon wielding Yamato, imitating Nero's attacks for dual attack capability. Yamato can only be used in conjunction with certain moves during Devil Trigger. Nero's Red Queen has special rev effect in the form of Exceed, which increases the power of Nero's slashes. The power can be increased by revving up the Red Queen and can be upgraded to three slashes at once. It can also be upgraded to instantly rev up the blade during combos with precise timimg. Nero does not gain new weapons, but new powers for his Devil Bringer to enhance its use.

More than half way through the game, the player takes control of Dante. Dante plays identical to his DMC3 counterpart, having access to his four starting styles: Swordmaster (Devil Arm/close range oriented style), Gunslinger (Firearm/long range oriented style, Trickster (Evasive oriented style), and Royalguard (Defense oriented style). Unlike the third game, each one can be switched between to at will with the press of a corresponding D-Pad button. Near the end of the game, Dante gains the Darkslayer style which grants him direct use of Yamato. Dante is more agile and stronger than Nero, starts out with a Devil Trigger and can gain new weapons along the way. Dante's Devil Trigger goes much beyond strength increase and health generation as well, going so far as to power up his weapons for far more intense versions of certain attacks such as a piercing, drilling Stinger.

Another new addition to the game are Proud Souls, which can be earned through achieving Stylish points during missions and are used to buy new abilities and attacks as well as upgrade styles. However, Proud Souls can be obtained regardless of whether or not you complete the mission. Exiting the mission will grant you the Proud Souls according to your current Stylish Points so one can harvest them easily for faster leveling up. Proud Souls can also be regained by 'selling' abilities that have already been brought, giving the player much more freedom for what they choose to add or not to add to their arsenal.

Unlockables
By clearing certain difficulty modes, new content will be unlocked such as more difficulty modes, arts, renders, etc. Clearing Son of Sparda (Hard mode) will unlock the familiarly hard Dante Must Die and Heaven and Hell modes. New to the series is the Hell and Hell mode, which is considered to be the hardest difficulty in the series. All enemies retain their Dante Must Die powers while the player dies in one hit. However, both Hell and Hell and Heaven and Hell is more merciful in that the player is given four chances, so if they take a it, they can be instantly revived from the point they were standing when they died.

Making a return is the Super Characters, which can be unlocked by clearing Dante Must Die mode. While it grants the player limitless DT duration, they have been considerably 'nerfed' as using a Super automatically penalizes your Stylish Rank and health regeneration is non-existent in devil form.

Sypnosis
The game opens with Nero hurrying towards the Opera House where the Order of the Sword is conducting a ceremony, with his right arm in a sling. Meanwhile Kyrie, Nero’s romantic interest, is beginning to open the ceremony with a song and is disappointed not to find Nero in the audience. She begins her song nonetheless as Nero encounters several Scarecrow demons on his way to the Opera House; he dispatches them and arrives at the Opera House just in time to hear the end of Kyrie’s song. Following this, Kyrie joins Nero in the audience where she finds Nero has left a present for her in the form of a golden necklace. The High Priest of the Order of the Sword, Sanctus, beckons the Order members to join him in prayer; Nero is visibly bored by this and is about to leave despite Kyrie’s protests, when his right arm begins to glow ominously. At this moment, Dante bursts through the ceiling and assassinates Sanctus.

Nero, under the impression that Kyrie is in danger, attacks Dante to initiate a fight. As Dante gains the upper hand, Nero's right arm, the Devil Bringer, awakens and uses its power to seemingly kill Dante by impaling him with his own sword upon the statue of Sparda. Dante responds by saying that Nero is "getting better", and then pushes himself off the statue. As Dante removes the sword from his chest, Nero asks, "You're not human are you?" Dante replies that "We are the same you and I... and them," pointing to one of the dead knights. Nero looks and it is revealed that the knight was possessed with a demonic appearance. Nero looks up to see that Dante is already resting on the hole in the ceiling from which he came. Dante states that he thinks Nero "has something different from the others", and then swoops out of view just as the knight reinforcements arrive.[15]

Nero is charged with capturing Dante and bringing him back to the Order to answer for his crimes by Credo, the leader of the Order's knights and Kyrie’s brother. Upon leaving the Opera House, however, a demonic horde begins to lay waste to the city. Nero and Kyrie are separated as Nero begins to slay the demons. Whilst journeying to Fortuna Castle he meets Gloria, a new member to the Order. Nero fights his way into the depths of Fortuna Castle. On the way, it is revealed that Sanctus has been infused with the soul of a demon to be revived. Agnus, the stuttering scientist and mastermind of the Orders demonic power manipulation, is also introduced.

Nero finally reaches Agnus' facility where he is ambushed by several white knights and injured. Vergil's broken katana, Yamato, responds to Nero and mends itself before flying into his hand. Nero fends off Agnus' attacks with the aid of a spectral blue demon hovering behind him before he collapses in exhaustion. Agnus flees back to Sanctus and informs him of Nero’s new-found power. Credo vows to take care of Nero while Gloria takes over Nero’s pursuit of Dante.

Nero is confronted by Credo, who has also been infused with demonic power, giving him the characteristics of an Angel, yet is defeated by Nero. However, Kyrie arrives in time to witness Nero with his demonic arm standing over her defeated brother. Agnus uses the confusion and distraction on Nero’s part to kidnap Kyrie and flee. Credo postpones his feud with Nero until he can investigate the situation. Nero once more meets Dante, but his quest to capture him is long since forgotten; he wishes to simply pass Dante. However, Dante wants Yamato, the sword used by his twin-brother Vergil, returned to him. A fight ensues where Dante is victorious; however, he decides to let Nero keep Yamato after the latter has “cooled down”. Gloria appears before Dante as Nero leaves; however, it is revealed that Gloria is in fact Trish, Dante’s partner in his demon hunting business “Devil May Cry”.[15]

Nero reaches Sanctus and the “Savior”, an enormous demon which the Order intends to bring to life using Nero and Yamato’s power. Using Kyrie as a human shield, Sanctus is successful in detaining Nero. Sanctus reveals that the Savior requires the essence of Sparda to reach full power; he originally intended Dante be used as the core, but accepts Nero as a suitable substitute, claiming that Nero is also a descendant of Sparda. Credo attempts to rescue the two, but is mortally wounded by Sanctus. Dante arrives and tells Nero to give him his sword back. Nero is absorbed into the Savior. Agnus uses Yamato to open the true Hellgate, releasing a multitude of demons onto the city. Sanctus arrives with the Savior and begins to exterminate the demons. Dante, upon hearing Credo’s dying request to rescue Kyrie and Nero, fights his way back towards the city. On his way, he destroys the three smaller Hellgates used to release the demons.[15]

Dante arrives back at the Opera House and kills Agnus. He then retrieves Yamato and uses it to destroy the true Hellgate before confronting Sanctus and the Savior. After discovering that the Savior is invincible from the outside, Dante drives Yamato into the chest of the Savior, where it is retrieved by Nero. Nero defeats Sanctus inside the Savior and rescues Kyrie. Nero eventually uses his Devil Bringer to destroy the Savior and Sanctus. After entrusting Nero with Yamato, Dante departs. Nero and Kyrie's reunion is interrupted by another demon attack. In the secret ending, at the Devil May Cry shop, Trish and Lady bicker over the small reward Lady had offered, with Lady accusing Trish for having disguised herself as Gloria and delivering Sparda's sword to the Order. After Trish forcibly drags him into their argument, Dante ends it by saying that it's better than nothing. Afterwards, Lady sets out to leave, but then the phone rings, with a customer having another job for Dante to do, and the trio moves out to help.